The Return of Boy Justice
By Peter Atkins
Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications
Pub. Date: February 10, 2016
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The Return of Boy Justice is an odd offering. Only
available as a Kindle download from the specialty press Cemetery Dance,
it is quite different from the horror and dark fantasy they usually
offer. The plot is rather simple and there isn't really anything unusual
or unpredictable in it that would jump it ahead of much of the short
fiction one can find . Yet it manages to entertain and bring a smile to
my face. in this tale, Boy Justice was the young sidekick to a TV
vigilante called The Blue Valentine. However the actor that played him
is now 78 years old. The once popular series and his character is now
forgotten. So he is surprised when he discovers a young boy actually
remembers him. He is even more surprised when the boy comes to him for
help.
Perhaps you can see now why I called it simple and predictable. Yet you would be wrong to call this a criticism. There is something rejuvenating about the theme of emotional rebirth. "Boy Justice" is now an embittered old man, forgotten and without purpose. Yet what he once was becomes important to someone again,. The question becomes, does Boy Justice return to fight for Truth, Justice...or whatever he and the Blue Valentine used to fight for? Or has he lost that spark?
I think you know how this is going to go. The Return of Boy Justice is short, sweet and satisfying. It is a few minutes of escape that may leave you yearning for the simple justice of the pulp TV heroes. And if you are old enough, like me, you might remember those heydays you had and realize they never really left. That spark is still there.
Perhaps you can see now why I called it simple and predictable. Yet you would be wrong to call this a criticism. There is something rejuvenating about the theme of emotional rebirth. "Boy Justice" is now an embittered old man, forgotten and without purpose. Yet what he once was becomes important to someone again,. The question becomes, does Boy Justice return to fight for Truth, Justice...or whatever he and the Blue Valentine used to fight for? Or has he lost that spark?
I think you know how this is going to go. The Return of Boy Justice is short, sweet and satisfying. It is a few minutes of escape that may leave you yearning for the simple justice of the pulp TV heroes. And if you are old enough, like me, you might remember those heydays you had and realize they never really left. That spark is still there.
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